New build, covered front porch. First floor level for house and porch is about 48″ above ground. Crawl space is closed with a foundation, so there is a CMU block wall with brick veneer below the porch. The porch framing slopes a couple of inches from back to front, but the crawlspace foundation does not slope.

The plan is to have a 1×12 Hardie band board wrap the porch floor framing, that also acts as a brick frieze for the brick veneer that covers the CMU block walls. The porch is about 50′ wide and 8′ deep. 

Question… should the 1×12 Hardie band boards on the sides of the porch follow the slope of the porch, which means that it will be a 1×12 for the full length of the boards? Or should the top of the band boards be cut at an angle that matches the porch slope, which will vary the Hardie band board from a 1×12 next to the house to about a 1×10 at the front edge of the porch. This also means the bottom edge of the porch band will be horizontal instead of angled. The second option also means that the bottom of the band board will be parallel with the brick below it, whereas the first will result in it not being parallel, and the back of the porch will expose one more brick than the front.

The attached drawing implies the first option, but I’m looking for more opinions.

Hope the description makes sense.

Thanks,
JL